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Video streaming sites like YouTube, Netflix and Amazon Prime are designed in a way that has a lot in common with casinos. They’re a cacophony of sounds, images and text all working to capture your attention and keep you constantly searching for the next thrill.

But according to Patrick Keilty, an associate professor at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Information, these design elements first found their footing in an unexpected place: pornography.

Keilty has been studying the business, technology and culture of the porn industry. He’s also the archives director of the Sexual Representation Collection at the university’s Bonham Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies.